401 Extra Credit Post 1/30

The first article was by Daniel K. Thompson called "Early Childhood Literacy Education, Wakefulness, and the Arts" and was mainly about linking together early childhood literacy and instruction in the arts. Those in early literacy education have experience a change in understanding how children learn to read and write. "We have come to know that fostering literacy growth means to build on the formidable understandings children have acquired about language before they enter our schools rather than to master in a prescribed sequence andy at a time proscribed by mental age." (pg. 186). This means that we need to work on building what children already know and understand before packing on a ton of knowledge that they may not follow. Children also should be exposed to good literature instead of readings that are way too intellectually above them. They also should connect to authentic arts activities to deepen their understanding. There is an emphasis on hitting test scores and that may not reflect what teachers are capable of teaching to their students. Through poetry, students can go through certain steps such as competency and recognition of their learning as they process through greater knowledge. The arts is our means of expression and can reflect another form of knowledge and language. The next article was called "Contextual Worlds of Child Art: Experiencing Multiple Literacies Through Images" by Marni Binder. It examined multiple literacies in children's drawings. I think that there are so many benefits to using multiple literacies and she touches on some of these points. "This is especially useful in diverse classrooms where the linguistic and cultural resources of students may be in tension with approaches to literacy learning that are linear and one-size-fits-all, which often hinder children whose native language is not English." (pg. 367). Using drawings can keep children of all cultures involved in the classroom. Visual arts can also broaden the understanding of written text. A holistic approach attends to the whole child's aspects of physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual domains. A sociocultural perspective is understanding the norms of the learning community and the teacher's expectations. Multiple literacies theory will respond to diversity and technology, as well as connecting children to themselves, others, and the world. Children's artistic compositions can be self-directed, or based off as a response to poetry and picture books read in the classroom. The final article was called "And What Happens Next? Telling Stories Through Drawing" by Wilson. It talked about spontaneous story drawings and how even the early scribbles can be seen as a pretext to linguistic development. Children can better understand the world and create situations that are suited to their wants and needs. They can show in their drawings what they are trying to convey when words are not yet available to them. "In a careful analysis of the various kinds of meanings illustrated in the drawings of this six-year-old girl, we found that she dealt with nine separate meaning considerations such as time and size relationships, development, and location." (pg. 113). This goes to show how drawings really do represent such a bigger meaning and picture than may not be realized at first. It also evokes imagination, such as the example of Philip who was able to create superpowers and mold his superhero however he wanted to. He could also improve his narration skills by explaining the superhero story as he went. Story drawings are just as important as visual/graphic vocabulary, and they will be able to tell the tale of the story just as well as a narrative. This is a link to a video of a child drawing a picture and explaining what she is drawing as she draws to show how imagination and narratives come into play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkekgslt0Ew